Uncharted: Behind Shadows
by TheArchaeologist
Summary: Nathan Drake descends into a world of shadows when he meets with both old and new enemies while searching for a palace made of pure gold. The further Drake goes, however, the more involved he becomes, to the point where he has to wonder whether discovering what lies behind shadows is worth sacrificing his entire world.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Sweat stung Nathan Drake's eyes as he moved through the dense jungle, swatting insects and thick branches out of his way while he sprinted through the foliage. He tripped over an exposed root and stumbled to the ground, cutting his forehead on a rock.

"Just my luck." He whispered through ground teeth, pushing himself up and wiping the sweat and blood from his face with the sleeve of his shirt. A high pitched sound was heard behind him, an odd mix between a squeal and bark. Drake looked over his shoulder in fear.

"Oh God, I gotta keep moving."

Turning around, Drake began sprinting, paying more attention to the ground so as to not trip again. The barking sound could still be heard behind him, accompanied with the sound of something moving through the forest. Drake began running faster, his legs beginning to seize up as he struggled towards where he hoped to God the jungle ended.

"Almost there." He gasped as the tree-line came into view. He burst through the last few trees and bushes into open air only to skid to a halt.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He cried out as he almost toppled over the edge of the cliff before him into the dense undergrowth of the ravine below. He looked over the edge for a moment, trying to calculate a way down, but his mind was freezing. The barking lessened to a wining growl and Drake turned to see various shapes amongst the trees, hidden by the shadows of the dusk. He immediately realized that he had a choice between the cliff and his pursuers.

"Down we go!" Drake said to himself as he dropped over the edge of the cliff. He hugged his body close to the rocks and dragged along it, his hands desperately grasping for some sort of hold to halt his fall. Thankfully, his fingers grasped a small lip in the cliff, and he was brought to a shoulder tearing stop. Drake dangled for a moment, clutching the small handhold for dear life. He looked up and down the cliff, scanning for another means of stabilizing himself. He noticed a rock jutting out that was easily within reach of his left foot. Setting his foot on the rock, Drake tested it lightly to see if it would hold his weight. The rock shifted slightly, but seemed stable. Drake put the rest of his weight on the rock, but it gave out, catching him by surprise and hurling him from the cliff.

Branches swatted and dragged at Drakes body and clothes as he fell through the canopy. No branch or vine seemed to support his weight, but Drake was at least able to slow himself down so that when he thudded to the ground he was alive. Dirty, scratched, and badly beaten, but alive.

Drake remained immobile for a few moments, unable to muster the strength to even swat away the bugs that swarmed him. It was the humming of an approaching vehicle that caught his attention. Drake rolled onto his belly and pushed himself up, ducking behind a tree and watching as a rusty, dirty jeep drove up and two men dressed in cargo short and shirts as dirty as the jeep jumped out.

"Saya fikir dia jatuh ke sini, merebak keluar dan mencari dia!"

"Shit." Drake swore, shielding himself behind the tree. They had seen him fall down the cliff, and those pistols made it clear these men wanted to make sure he was dead. One of the men went off to the side, while the other walked straight towards him. Drake kept himself as low and covered as possible, and just as the man unwittingly passed him, Drake jumped onto his back, and snapped the man's neck.

Dropping down, Drake picked up the pistol and stood back up, pointing his newly acquired weapon at the other man and shooting him. Drake quickly bounded over to the jeep and revved it up, driving away from the cliff and down the ravine along the stream. The trees in the ravine were thinner than in the denser jungle up top, and Drake knew that the cliffs on either side of him guided the stream towards a large floodplain, where he was supposed to rendezvous with the others. He hoped they were there and ready for him.

"I just want to get out of this damn jungle." Drake muttered angrily. Just then, the barking sounds started up again, and Drake fearfully started looking around trying to see where they were coming from. However, the barking sound was drowned out by another sound, which confused Drake.

"What the hell is that?" He wondered, then looked up "Oh hell no, that is not a helicopter." As if on cue, a helicopter flew over the trees and into sight, lowering itself down slightly into the ravine and skimming the tree tops. "God damn it!" Drake shouted, applying more pressure to the gas pedal. The jeep sped up, but the helicopter was still able to keep pace. The loud chatter of the helicopter's machine gun started rattling, and the ground behind Drake was ripped up by the bullets.

The stream of bullets drew closer and closer to Drake's jeep, no matter how fast he tried to urge it. He glanced up at the helicopter and became aware of shadowy figures moving on top of the cliffs as fast as the helicopter. Several of the creatures jumped onto the helicopter, and it started swaying back and forth. Suddenly it veered at a hard angle, crashing its tail into the cliff side. The helicopter exploded, and the burning remnants immediately pitched downwards.

The flaming wreckage crashed into the ground behind Drake, and he could feel the flame's heat on his back as the ball of fire and metal tumbled and slid only a few feet behind his jeep. The helicopter came to a crashing halt, but before Drake could begin to feel lucky, the helicopter exploded once more and the ensuing shockwave caused the jeep to spin out of control.

Drake jumped out of the jeep, rolling along the ground just in time to see his vehicle crash and meet its own fiery demise. Drake struggled to his feet and began limping along the stream when the barking began once more.

"Can't I get a break?!" Drake cried out, frantically glancing around and looking for any means of escape. He noticed a small concrete structure nestled amongst the trees, and began jogging towards it while keeping weight off of the leg he had injured jumping from the jeep.

"Well this works." He muttered to no one in particular.

Kicking open the metal door, Drake limped into the small room and closed the door shut behind him. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, trying to catch his breath and remain calm despite the incessant barking that could be heard just outside the building. Drake opened his eyes and immediately became aware he was not the only man in the room, for there was also a tall man in a lab coat there, pointing a gun at him.

"Nathan?" The man questioned with a thick Russian accent, his jaw dropping and his gun arm going slack. "How did you-"

"You lying son of a bitch!" Drake said, lurching forward towards the man, pointing his gun threateningly.

"Please, Nathan, I-"

"No excuses, just tell me what the hell is going on here!"

"I- I can't!" The man stammered, backing away nervously. Drake stepped closer and the man slid through an open door and down stairs, slamming the door shut behind him. Drake ran over to the door and tried to pull it open, but it was latched shut.

"Damn it!" Drake shouted "How the hell do I keep getting in these messes." He mumbled. After a few more attempts at opening the door to the stairwell, Drake turned back to the front door and walked over, pressing his ear against it, listening for the barking of the creatures.

"Alright, I think it's clear." He whispered to himself, undoing the latch. Suddenly, the door burst open, flinging Drake back against a wall. The gun flew out of Drake's hand, leaving him unarmed as he crumpled to the floor, fresh blood dripping down the back of his neck and his vision blurring. He recalled at that moment what Antonio Pigafetta wrote about the death of Magellan, and wondered if he would be remembered with similar words.

"They killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide." He mumbled while dark growling figures crept into the room towards Drake as he lay helpless, his half-conscious mind slipping back in time to two months ago in Madrid, when this had all started…

* * *

**Author's Notes: ****Okay, so a bit of a writer's block with my original novel and replaying the series has resulted in a new idea forming, and after a ton of research, it is ready to begin publishing. If you enjoyed Tides of War, you should also enjoy Behind Shadows. Let me know if this prologue was enough to grab your attention, and soon I'll update the official Chapter 1!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Y'know, call me crazy kid, but doesn't it seem a little pointless to be in the heart of Spain and order an American burger?" Victor Sullivan asked, taking a ravenous bite of his cheeseburger and washing it down with a sip of beer.

"Yeah, well we aren't exactly here for vacation, Sully." Drake responded absently while staring out the window. "Besides, we're on too tight of a budget to eat a nice fancy European meal every day."

"Fair enough." Sully responded with a shrug. "Well if we aren't here for vacation, what _are_ we here for?"

"I told you, a job."

"I know that, but you haven't told me a goddamn thing about what we are supposed to be doing. I'm only here because I was flying over to London anyway and you said it would only take a day or two."

Drake glanced at Sully then back out the window again. After thinking for several moments, he pulled out a small folder from his bag and started sliding it across the table to his old friend.

"I can already say you won't be thrilled." Drake cautioned, but Sully simply scowled and snatched the folder. He opened it for a minute, scanned it, and then threw it down with disgust.

"Damn it, Nate, this isn't a job! This is a waste of time. All this will do is spark some big treasure hunt that will take you around the goddamn world and result in nothing. Haven't you learned anything?"

"This isn't going to end up like those times!" Drake defended, but Sully waved his hand dismissively.

"Ferdinand Magellan's log book? Kid, every time you go after something like this, it becomes something way bigger!" The older man barked, then lowered his voice when he realized how much attention he was attracting in the restaurant. "And that is something we just can't handle right now. We don't have that kind of time or money."

"I know, I know." Drake said, raising his hands defensively. "But I already told my employer that I'm getting the log book, then I'm out. Nothing else." Sully grumbled with contention, but stuffed his mouth with another bite instead of arguing any further.

"So what are we doing here, in this restaurant?" Sully asked, pulling Drake's attention away from the window once again. "And please tell me it has nothing to do with the museum down the street. I'm really not in the mood for a break in."

"We're just waiting." Drake said, readjusting his chair so he could look at Sully and the street at the same time. "How much do you know about Ferdinand Magellan?"

"Honestly? Not much." Sully conceded. Drake nodded, apparently expecting the response.

"Okay, well Magellan attempted to be the first man to ever circumnavigate the globe. He left Seville in 1519 on a mission from King Charles I of Spain to find a westward route to the Spice Islands in the South East. In 1521, he reaches the Philippine Islands, making his crew the first Spaniards to ever reach the Islands. It was while he was there on the island of Mactan that he was killed in battle and his crew fled, reaching Spain in 1522 with only one of the original four ships and a handful of the original 300 crew. The only detailed account we have of the expedition is the one written by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian scholar who was on the expedition. But Pigafetta's account is entirely second-hand, and people speculate that Magellan's log book, which was never recovered, would bring more details about the expedition to light."

"Great story kid, but you're avoiding my question. What the hell are _we_ doing _here_." Sully demanded.

"Yeah, you never were interested in my little history lessons." Drake said, laughing.

"No." Sully responded flatly. "Never was, never will be."

"Ouch Sully, that hurts." Drake said, feinting a look of pain on his face. "Alright, fine. My employer, Mr. Franco Correia, is a Magellan expert living in Portugal. For years he has been trying to prove that Magellan's log book survived, and wants to use it to collect more information than what we know Pigafetta's account. A couple years back, he finds out that this collector, Boreas Serrano, has the original log book stashed in his villa here in Madrid."

"So Signor Correia wants us to take it from Serrano?" Sully asked, his head tilted to the side with a hint of skepticism.

"Not exactly." Drake continued "It's much harder than that. See, when Correia found out that Serrano had the log book, he immediately contacted the guy. But Serrano claims to have gone through a lot of trouble to obtain the log book, and refuses to sell it for any price. That's when Correia decided he needed to steal it."

"And that's where we come in?"

"Almost. Correia was planning on paying one or two guys to steal the log book, but found out that Serrano's villa is like a fortress and with armed guards to boot. Getting in would be tough for five guys, and getting out would be almost impossible for ten. So Correia sat back and started saving up his money to pay off some mercenaries, when a few weeks ago a guy he knows, who gets info from the street, catches wind of a gang who plans on robbing the house. Apparently these guys are their own small army, and that gave Correia an idea. With proper timing, one or two guys could follow in the wake of the gang and find the log book, which would probably be overlooked by the thieves. So that's what we need to do: follow this gang, grab the log book, and get out." Drake concluded, sitting back. "Preferably without shooting anyone." He added as an afterthought.

"Or getting shot!" Sully cut in, shaking his head at his protégé. "Nate, this is a tough job, with a big risk factor. Is it really worth this little book?"

"Maybe not to us." Drake said, opening the folder and pointing at one of the papers. "But it's worth a hell of a lot to our friend Franco."

Sully whistled lowly at the payment figure listed on the paper. He glanced up at Drake, then back down at the paper.

"You really want to do this?"

"Why not?" Drake responded with a nervous smile and half shrug.

"I can think of ten good reasons…" Sully mumbled. He paused for a few minutes, rolling the base of his beer bottle in circles on the table as he thought. "Ah what the hell, I'm in." He exclaimed, leaning back in his chair to emphasize the conclusiveness of his statement. "If anything, because somebody needs to watch out for your stupid ass."

"Good." Drake said, staring intently out the window. "Then finish your beer, because I think this is them."

Drake stood and Sully started to his feet. He drained his bottle as he stood next to Drake, who pointed out a group of men walking along the sidewalk.

"That's definitely them."

"They don't look local." Sully commented, and Drake nodded.

"That's cause they aren't. They come from Indonesia and the Philippines." He explained. "They call themselves 'Tentera Preman Bersatu Padu'. I think 'Teppa' for short. It roughly translates to 'United Civilian Army'."

"Sounds hardcore. How come I've never heard of 'em?"

"Not many people have. They are fairly new but have been quickly growing over the past few years and have a major reputation for being incredibly vicious."

"And you want to fight these guys?" Sully asked incredulously.

"It's not really fighting; it's more along the lines of… Commensalism. "

"Whatever the hell that means." Sully grumbled as Drake led him out the restaurant and along the sidewalk behind the men.

"Alright Sully, I'll follow them on foot, you go over to the car and follow the directions I give you over the radio." Drake directed, and Sully gave a curt nod of understanding before heading down the street and around the corner. Drake turned and kept his eyes locked on the Teppa as they headed down Calle Esparteros and toward Calle Mayor.

"Where are you going?" Drake whispered as he began to stalk the thugs. The group was waiting to cross at a street corner when Sully buzzed in over the radio.

"_Alright I'm in the car. Where are you guys?_"

"The corner of Calle Mayor and Travesia Arenal."

"_I'm on my way._"

"Okay, well we are crossing onto the next block so I'll keep you posted." Drake said as he followed the thugs across the street and further down Mayor. The men stopped and argued for a bit then quickly stepped into a small shop.

"Did you just drive past me?" Drake asked into the radio as he saw Sully drive by going the opposite direction.

"_It's a one way street, I can't tail you guys._"

"That's fine." Drake said, watching as the Teppa stepped out of the shop, lit cigarettes now dangling in their mouths. "They just finished buying cigarettes, you can do another loop."

"_Filthy habit._"

"You're one to talk, how many cigars do you smoke a day?"

"_Okay, in my defense cigars are not as bad. It's been proven._"

"Oh yeah? By who?"

"_Scientists._"

"Scientists? Really?"

"_Oh yeah, it was real big. Surprised you hadn't heard about it_."

"Just… shut up and keep driving around."

"_Easier said than done. I hate driving in Europe_."

Drake shook his head and chuckled. Sometimes Sully was just too much to handle. But the older man was in one of his playful moods, which was good. It lessened the tension for Drake, who was more than a little nervous following the Teppa through Madrid. The small group of men turned down a side alley and Drake followed, keeping his distance.

"Alright, we're moving down a side alley, you can't follow us down it but you should be able to drive on Calle Bordadores, which I think runs parallel to the alley."

"_Got it_." Sully responded over the radio. "_Say, it's getting pretty dark._"

"Well what did you think, they would pull the heist in broad daylight?"

"_Jesus, no need to be snappy, just trying to make conversation…_"

Drake put away the radio and knit his eyebrows together in concentration as he followed the Teppa into a small café. The group moved through into the kitchen and towards a backdoor while Drake followed, ducking low behind a counter and walking as silently as he could. Drake raised his head slightly to peak at the Teppa when one of them glanced over. Drake dropped down quickly, praying silently that he hadn't been seen. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed a kitchen knife that was laying on the counter and held it close to his body. He felt his mouth go dry as the Teppa stood still, muttering to themselves. Drake angled the knife so he could get a reflection of the men, and was relieved to see them open the door and let it close.

"Oh thank God." Drake whispered as he stood up, laid down the knife, and moved to open the door. "I really thought I was screwed there for a mome-"

Just as Drake began heading through the doorway, a pair of strong hands from the other side grasped him and threw him against a wall in an alleyway behind the cafe. Two of the Teppa pinned him against the wall and a third approached him, waving a pistol wildly.

"Siapakah anda!?" The Teppa demanded, pointing his gun at Drake.

"Whoa, buddy, careful where you point that thing, you'll shoot your eye out!"

"Who are you!? Why are you following us?" The Teppa hissed, pressing the muzzle of the gun painfully into Drake's throat.

"Who, me?" Drake gasped, choking from the pressure on his larynx. "Oh I'm nobody, just a tourist." He laughed nervously as the Teppa squinted at him. For a moment, Drake thought he was going to be released, but his hopes fell as the radio in his pocket crackled to life.

"_Hey Nate, what's going on? I haven't heard anything for a while. You okay?_"

"Shit" Drake said under his breath as the Teppa with the gun grabbed the radio and pressed his gun to Drake's forehead.

"Wait." One of the Teppa who had been watching said, stepping forward. He was taller and darker than the others, with dead eyes, a half shaved head, and a tattoo running along his neck and cheek. "Are you Nathan Drake?" The man asked, brushing away the Teppa who was holding the gun and putting a finger under Drake's chin.

"Do I know you?"

The Teppa chuckled softly, shaking his head lightly. Suddenly, he punched Drake in the stomach with an incredible force, causing him to double over in pain. Drake grunted agonizingly as the two Teppa holding him straightened him up again.

"Kami mempunyai Nathan Drake di sini" The Teppa with the tattoo said into his radio. The radio buzzed something inaudible in return and the Teppa turned to Drake, smiling a humorless smile. He walked over and once again punched him hard in the gut.

"Listen, listen," Drake gasped "If this is because I didn't call you back or something, I just wasn't looking for a serious relationship at the time." The Teppa stepped over and delivered another punch, this time across Drake's chin. He waved off the two Teppa who were holding Drake and they released him, allowing him to fall to his knees.

"You are known very well, Drake. Yours is a reputation many people know of before they meet you ever." The marked Teppa said, grabbing Drake by the shirt collar and lifting him to his feet.

"Why is that never a good thing…" Drake commented as the fist came down on him once more, this time on the temple. Drake dropped to his hands and knees again, and the Teppa who was beating him reached down to pick him up.

Just as the man was bending down, however, Drake launched himself up, wrapping his arms around the man's knees and lifting him. Drake ran forward, ramming the man's body into the wall then turned around only to find himself once again staring down the barrel of the first Teppa's gun. The Teppa smiled victoriously at Drake, but before he could pull the trigger, a woman passing by the alley happened to spot them, and screamed. The Teppa turned, and while distracted Drake disarmed him and grabbed his radio back. With a quick jab for good measure, Drake spun around to run off. Just then, the tattooed Teppa stood and jumped over to block him, but Drake didn't stop moving. Instead, he ran forward, using the gun to whiplash the Teppa soldier in his way and bolt out of the alley.

"Sully, things went kinda sour, where are you?" Drake barked into the radio, looking around as panicked civilians started running and pushing each other.

"_I'm on Bordadores, next to the church._" Sully responded almost immediately.

"Pergi selepas dia! Go after him! Don't let him get away!" Drake could hear the Teppa shouting as he ran down the shopping strip towards the church. He didn't look back as he heard the Teppa run into the street, knowing the only way he could escape was in Sully's car. Suddenly, gunshots rang out from behind Drake, and a clothing store window next to his head shattered. Drake stumbled and fell to the floor, swearing as he pivoted and ran down the narrow street where he saw Sully's car with the engine already running.

Drake jumped into the passenger seat and closed the door just as a bullet hit the side view mirror, completely shattering it.

"Oh shit!" Sully exclaimed.

"C'mon Sully, we gotta get out of here! Step on it!" Drake cried out as another bullet connected with the windshield. Sully slammed on the gas and the car sped forward, shooting out onto Calle Mayor. "One way, Sully. It's one way, one way, you can't turn right!" Drake screamed as Sully tried to turn right and narrowly escaped a head on collision. The car spun around 180 degrees and shuddered to a stop, leaving the car pointed at two shocked police officers staring at them, hands on their pistols.

"Sully…"

"Yeah Nate?"

"Please drive.

"With pleasure." Sully stepped on the gas again, and the car shot forward. The officers pulled out their pistols and started shooting while at the same time the Teppa standing in the street started shooting at them as well. Sully and Drake ducked as the windows shattered, but soon they were out of the fire fight and looked back to see the Teppa and police shooting at each other.

"That should keep 'em busy." Sully said with a smile. "What the hell happened back there?"

"Apparently I am a very well-known and much disliked person." Drake said bitterly, using a cloth in the glove compartment to wipe blood from the corner of his mouth.

"No kidding." Sully said, chuckling and biting on a cigar he had apparently lit while waiting for Drake. "You know, there is one thing I don't understand." Sully said as they continued down the street. "These guys are a big criminal system getting ready to rob a fortress, but there were only five guys walking around. And it's not like we are close to the villa. Where are all the others?"

"I don't know Sully, but let's just be happy there were only five of them." Drake said. "Go straight past this train station, let's avoid Plaza Mayor." Sully nodded, but as they passed the parking lot, two trucks came to life and pulled up behind them. From the bed of each truck, three men stood, each wielding an AK-47.

"Ah there they are!" Sully said, immediately speeding up and swerving while honking at cars in the way.

"Oh shit…" Drake said as the trucks came closer and the Teppa in the beds took aim. "Alright Sully, it's getting dark so let's head over to the Parque del Retiro and try to lose them there."

"Sounds good to me, just tell me how to get there!" Before Drake could respond, the guns started going off, and Drake had to shout over the gunfire while ducking.

"Keep going straight until the road splits, then take a hard left onto Calle de Cedaceros! When you get to Calle de Alcalá, turn right!" Drake waited a second for the gunfire to lessen before climbing over his chair and into the back seat. Sully started swerving more to avoid cars while Drake kept low, using the seats as cover. Without raising his head, he held up his pistol and started firing rounds. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and Drake knew they were short on time.

"Let's get moving Sully!"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?"

Sully turned the wheel hard, and Drake raised himself up, taking the opportunity to aim a few shots. A civilian car was in between him and the trucks, but Drake was able to aim the shot well enough to hit one of the Teppa, causing him to topple over the side of the truck.

"Oh yeah! How do you like that!?" Drake shouted before quickly ducking down again for cover. He blind fired a few more rounds before popping up and shooting a few more well-aimed bullets. This time he shot at the driver, and was able to hit him in the shoulder. The truck began to swerve and then crashed into the side of a small store.

"See ya!" Drake cried out victoriously, but was immediately silenced by a burst of shots that whizzed by his head.

"Things are getting pretty hot, kid! How close are we?" Sully shouted back from the driver's seat.

"We're close, this is plaza Cibeles. Keep heading straight and soon we will be at the park."

"No can do, Nate! Too many cops. I'm turning right!" Sully said, jerking the steering wheel.

"Sully, you can't do that, this is a one way-"

"I don't give a damn, just keep shooting!" Sully barked back. Drake dropped back into cover and tried to balance himself as Sully drove wildly along the street. Drake raised his head and paled at the site of the Teppa truck and three police vans following them. He fired a few bullets but then had to duck down. He was already running low on ammo. A quick glance told him they were driving the wrong way on Paseo del Prado

"Turn left on Calle Felipe IV!" Drake shouted, and Sully offered his silence as understanding. Within a few moments they veered hard to the left and Drake looked up again. Now several police vans were behind them, but there was no sign of the truck. While Drake was still trying to deduce where the Teppa truck had gone, bullets buzzed by him from the side window and Drake realized the truck was alongside them. Drake fired a few rounds, but soon his pistol was clicking with an empty chamber.

"He's out of ammo, give him hell!" One of the Teppa shouted, and bullets started raining down.

"Sully, I'm out of ammo, can we lose these guys?"

"Gimme a second…" Sully responded. The car turned a slight left and suddenly they were out onto the large Calle de Alfonso XII. Sully cut straight across the traffic instead of turning, but slammed on the brakes. The truck sped by them and Sully shifted gears again. Drake looked up just in time to see the truck get slammed into by another car. Sully avoided the collision and pulled up to the large ornate gates of the Parque del Retiro.

Drake and Sully jumped out of the car and ran over to the closed gate. Drake looked back and saw the collision had become a multi-car pileup, consisting of the truck, several civilian cars, and several of the police vans that had been tailing them. Many policemen were now on foot and trying to run across the street, weapons drawn, to stop Drake and Sully. The two men quickly scaled the gate, dropped down onto the other side, and ran into the park.

After running through the trees, fields, and bushes for about thirty minutes, Drake and Sully stopped to catch their breath.

"I think we lost 'em." Sully gasped, leaning against a tree.

"Maybe, but we got to keep moving." Drake said between breaths. "We have to get to the villa before the Teppa are finished."

"Goddamn Nate, you are crazy!" Sully said, shaking his head. "I think we are a little outnumbered, and outgunned!"

"Yeah well..." Drake said, smiling "Why change anything now?" Sully laughed and patted Drake on the shoulder, showing him he was ready to get moving.

"We really do have shit luck."

"Eh, it's not that bad." Drake said with a slight shrug "Besides, I'm sure we can 'convince' some of the Teppa to donate their guns to us." Sully stopped and looked Drake in the eyes.

"Are you really sure you want to be doing this? It's practically suicide."

"I'm sure." Drake said, smiling. "This isn't my first night at the rodeo."

"No, kid, be serious for a second." Sully said, kneading his eyebrows together. "You're engaged, you're about to become a family man. You can't keep doing stuff like this, and I know Elena doesn't approve."

"Yeah, well, I haven't even told her what we are doing. I told her it was just a research job. Apparently part of her saying yes to me was me getting a 'normal life'." Drake said, not without contempt.

"You've committed to a big thing here, but it's something I know you both want. Stop acting like it's such a goddamn burden." Sully said while pointing at Drake with an accusatory finger.

Drake cast his eyes down and to the side, avoiding eye contact with his older friend. Sully stared at him a few moments longer, then turned and started walking.

"Well, I guess we're gonna need to hotwire a car." Sully said. Drake nodded, and his eyes hardened as he transitioned from guilt to resolution. He had a job to do. It was time to do it.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Sorry it took me a while to upload guys, been a busy week. Well I'm glad my prologue was able to hook some of you, and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! I'll continue uploading chapters, and you continue letting me know what you think. There's a bit of a reveal in chapter 2, some of you may have guessed it by now, some may still be surprised, but hang around and you'll find out! Thank you all for reading and reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sully and Drake quickly stole a car and headed out into the direction of the Villa de Serrano, a large rustic manor on the outskirts of the massive city. The villa was placed amongst the rolling Spanish hills and valleys, so forgettable when lost in the middle of the city, yet greeted warmly and readily when returned to. But as darkness settled, there was a certain ominous tone to the countryside, and as Sully drove the car up to the villa's main gate, the foreboding solidified into fear.

"Well we certainly aren't the first ones here." Sully commented, looking along the wall where the gate had been blasted off of its hinges.

"Yeah, I just hope we're not too late." Drake added. "Hey, Sully, park over there. We can be much sneakier on foot."

"You know, your 'sneaky' plans usually don't work out so well." Sully grumbled, but obliged and parked the car between some bushes and the wall.

The two men got out of the car and moved into Serrano's property, padding along as silently as they could and keeping low to the ground. The villa's grounds were huge, and the villa itself an intimidating structure on the horizon. As Drake and Sully moved through the garden, they took note of several flashlights flickering along the grounds, as well as light being cast from almost every window of the villa.

"Geez, this guy has got to be loaded." Sully whispered as the duo paused to assess their situation.

"Yeah… apparently he is a big history buff. Even this villa looks like it has its decent chunk of history. It has an entirely Muslim influence with the courtyard center and that tower, which is clearly reminiscent of a minaret." Drake said, his awe matching Sully's. Meanwhile, Sully chuckled and shook his head at Drake's own fascination with history.

"Kid, Muslim influences don't bring in the big bucks. Think of the artifacts this guy has collected and stashed. A successful raid could bring in a whole lotta cash."

"Don't get any ideas, Sully." Drake chided his greedy friend. "Remember, the journal and that's it." Sully mumbled a response and started moving down the small knoll they had perched on. Drake followed in suit, keeping a careful eye on a pair of guards moving towards them.

"So do we have a game plan?" Sully asked as soon as Drake caught up with him.

"Of course. Don't I always?" Drake said with a smile, and Sully gave him a condescending look that perfectly mimed his "Whatever you say kid" response. "Right, so, anyway- you see those two guards over there, walking isolated from the group, completely unaware of us nearby?"

"Suckers."

"Exactly. We'll take them down and grab their weapons. Then, we make our way to an entrance of some sort."

"Front door doesn't cut it?"

"What do you think?"

"Right, so, a window or back door."

"Then we find the journal and get out." Drake said with a nod. Sully glanced back at him and arched his eyebrows.

"'Find the journal and get out.' Really? That's your plan."

"What?" Drake said defensively. "I don't usually plan out as much as I have. It's progress, you can't expect me to be a brilliant planner overnight!"

"Okay, sure."

"Baby steps, Sully! We'll figure it out once we get the journal." Drake said, trying to justify himself to Sully's silent judgment. "Look, here come the guards. Initiate Operation Silent Bookie."

The two men quickly descended upon the two guards and swept up behind them, snapping their necks before they had a chance to cry out.

"Operation Silent Bookie?" Sully hissed as he picked up one of the fallen guards' pistol and ammo. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Sure it does." Drake said, picking up the other gun. "We are being silent and stealing a book."

"That's not what a bookie does! A bookie doesn't even work with written out books, he works with number books. You mind as well call it 'Operation Silent Librarian.'"

"Don't be ridiculous." Drake said with a mocking scoff.

With weapons now in hand, the two men started moving along the villa's wall to find a way in. They soon came under a window that was slightly ajar, and Drake motioned for Sully to boost him up. With the extra height, Drake barely managed to grasp the window sill and pull himself in. Supporting his weight as best he could, Drake leaned out the window and extended a hand to Sully, who, with a running jump, managed to grab hold. Drake struggled with the additional weight, but finally succeeded in pulling his friend through the window.

Drake and Sully toppled to the floor of a small bathroom, and remained still for a moment while catching their breath. Drake was the first to stand up again, and after helping Sully to his feet he moved over to the door and pressed his ear against it. He waited and listened for a few moments before he turned his head to Sully and nodded.

Drake slowly opened the bathroom door and inched his way into the hallway that looked out to the courtyard of the villa, which was crawling with Teppa soldiers.

"Shit." Drake swore, ducking out of sight. "Sully, these guys are everywhere. Stay down."

Sully moved low across the floor then nodded his head at a flight of stairs not far away. Drake gave silent agreement and the two moved up the stairs and through a door which led onto a balcony overlooking the courtyard. Several other second floor balconies surrounded the courtyard, and a few of them had Teppa positioned on them. Fortunately, the balcony Drake and Sully were on was unoccupied and provided good covering from any of the other soldiers.

While peeking over the edge of the balcony and down at the Teppa in the courtyard, Drake became aware of the tattooed Teppa in the center. The man paced around, apparently waiting for something.

"Commander Chandra!" A voice shouted out, and the tattooed man turned expectantly. Two Teppa marched in, dragging between them a badly beaten older man with flowing white hair and a thick white moustache. "He speaks English, Commander." One of the Teppa said, throwing the old man to the floor in front of Chandra.

"That's Serrano!" Drake whispered to Sully, pointing to the old man. Chandra walked over slowly to Serrano and used his pistol to lift the old man's head.

"Boreas Serrano, yes?" Chandra questioned rhetorically with a cold smile, then turned and walked away from Serrano. "This is really a beautiful villa, yours. I must be thanking you for this hospitality which you provide to us so well. It is true yes we had to kill all guards you had employed, but after that we have felt quite at home."

"What do you want from me?" Serrano groaned, staring at Chandra.

"There is something you are having we want badly." Chandra explained, carrying on an air of apathy as he walked around the room.

"You see my artifacts and collections. Take whatever you want, just please leave me and my family alone." Serrano pleaded, but only prompting a chuckle from Chandra.

"No, no, no, Mr. Serrano. What we seek you have hid, quite well." Chandra turned and walked back over to Serrano, grabbing his face and forcing him to look up. "We are wanting Magellan's logbook."

"Goddamn it." Sully whispered, tightening his grip on the pistol in his hand. There was a tense pause where Serrano simply stared at Chandra.

"You will never find the book." Serrano said calmly. Chandra remained still for a moment, then with incredible speed brought the pistol across the man's face.

"Tell to us where the book is hid!" Chandra shouted, spit visibly flying from his mouth into Serrano's face.

"No." Serrano said, remaining unflinching before the Teppa commander. "It is only with my wisdom you could find it, a wisdom you lack. Kill me if you must, it will only assure the security of the book."

"Your house is small with so many men I have." Chandra hissed, fastening his hand on Serrano's throat. "We will find these secrets you hid. We do not need wisdom with the strength we have of numbers." Chandra forcefully released Serrano's neck, throwing the old man to the floor. He paced for a moment, then turned and kicked Serrano in the gut. The old man grunted and crumpled into the fetal position, at which point Chandra delivered a few more kicks.

"Jesus, I can't watch this, we've got to do something." Sully said, but Drake signaled for him to stay down. Chandra walked to the other side of the room, angrily muttering to himself. Serrano slowly lifted himself from his hands and knees to a kneeling position and watched Chandra. The Teppa commander finally seemed to make up his mind and ran at Serrano, pressing the gun into his forehead.

"This is last chance for you, old man!" Chandra barked, cocking the pistol "Tell to us where the book is hid."

"He was to me as he was to his crew." Serrano said, his voice heavy with resignation "If you know that, you know where it is."

Chandra paused for a moment, seeming to analyze this bit of information. Then he shook his head with disappointment.

"Foolish old man." Chandra said as he pulled the trigger and executed Serrano.

"That son of a bitch." Drake said as Chandra started shouting orders to his men, ignoring the freshly killed body. Drake turned to say something to Sully, when he noticed that on the balcony across from them a shocked Teppa soldier had just locked eyes with him. "Oh crap." Drake muttered, just as the Teppa raised his gun. Drake reacted quickly and fired his pistol, knocking the man off the balcony. Immediately, the courtyard erupted into chaos.

"It's Drake! Kill him!" Chandra shouted, and bullets assaulted the balcony Drake and Sully were hiding behind.

"So much for 'silent' bookie!" Sully shouted, barreling through the balcony door and back into the second floor hallway "C'mon kid, it's time to go!"

"I'm right behind you Sully!" Drake shouted, following his friend through the door while blind-firing for cover. Drake looked both ways down the hallway and saw that Teppa soldiers were approaching from both ends. Reloading his pistol, Drake sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

After running down the hallway and killing anybody who got in their way, Drake and Sully managed to work their way up to the third floor and to hide in what appeared to be Serrano's study. Sully braced the door before turning to Drake. Both men were out of breath and sweaty, as well as fairly beaten from their arduous escape.

"Alright, what the hell is going on here?" Sully barked between breaths. "Thugs chasing some old book in a house full of priceless goodies? It doesn't make a lick of sense!"

"I know, I know." Drake said, pacing nervously. "But either way, I think it's a good idea to keep it out of their hands and in ours."

"How do you suggest we find it?" Sully questioned. "They have an army searching and they couldn't find it. The book is hidden, and the only guy who knew where to find it has his brains splattered in the courtyard."

"Alright, that's enough Sully." Drake said, waving an exasperated hand at his friend. He looked around the room and took a deep breath to steady himself. "All of the answers are somewhere in this study, I'm sure of it." He declared. "We just need to find out where."

"You make that sound like it'll be easy." Sully said, looking around the massive room. The walls were lined with large bookshelves and artifacts, a large mirror on one wall, and a massive ornate desk in the middle. Sully was right; finding anything in the huge study was going to be no easy task, certainly not made better with the Teppa soldiers hunting them down.

"Wait…" Drake said, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Wait…" He said again, rushing to the desks and rustling through the notes.

"Wait what?" Sully questioned as Drake continued to move rapidly around the room.

"What was it that Serrano said right before Chandra killed him?" Drake said, playing with the ring around his neck nervously.

"Something about how 'he' was to him what 'he' was to his crew."

"Exactly." Drake said, shaking a finger in the air. "Exactly… and we can assume 'he' is Magellan, right?"

"Sure." Sully said, allowing Drake to go through his rhetorical conversation process which helped him think.

"I need to find… oh come on, Serrano must have it." Drake said to himself, running to one of the bookshelves and looking it up and down. "Ah, here!" He exclaimed, pulling a book titled _Relazione del Primo Viaggio Intorno al Mondo _off the shelf and setting it down on the desk. "This is Antonio Pigafetta's published journal 'Report on the First Travel Around the World'." He explained in response to Sully's confused look.

"And the answer is supposedly in there?" Sully questioned, walking towards Drake and looking over his shoulder.

"Hopefully."

"Ah hell Nate, it's all in Italian!" Sully said, swearing under his breath. "I hardly knew enough to get us out of that Rome situation, how the hell are we supposed to translate that whole book?" Drake laughed and looked back at his friend.

"Sully, gimme some credit here!" Drake said, raising imploring hands. "Don't you remember when we were in Venice and I told you what to say to that waitress?"

"Oh yeah." Sully said, his hand absently drifting to the side of his face "I think that is the hardest a woman has ever slapped me, and I've been slapped a lot."

"Yeah, well, you said some pretty offensive stuff." Drake said, chuckling as he flipped through the journal.

"Thanks for that, by the way." Sully said with a tone of annoyance.

"You're welcome." Drake said, staring intently at one of the pages. "Okay, here it's talking about the final battle of Mactan, where Magellan's forces attacked the army of the Rajah-king Lapu-Lapu. Pigafetta wrote: '_The natives continued to pursue us, and picking up the same spear four or six times, hurled it at us again and again. Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice, but he always stood firmly like a good knight, together with some others. Thus did we fight for more than one hour, refusing to retire farther. An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the Indian's body. Then, trying to lay hand on sword, he could draw it out but halfway, because he had been wounded in the arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses until…_'"

"Jesus, that's harsh." Sully commented as Drake paused then slowly raised his head with a look of realization on his face.

"Hanno ucciso il nostro specchio, la nostra luce, il nostro conforto, e la nostra vera guida." Drake whispered, inciting a look of irritation from Sully.

"Pardon? In English, please?"

"'They rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide!'" Drake said, getting excited and moving in front of the large mirror in the study. "Could it be that simple?" Drake pulled out his gun, held it at the mirror and fired several rounds, which thudded into the glass but did not break it.

"Careful, kid, you're gonna let the whole world know where we are!" Sully said angrily, looking nervously to the door.

"Sully, it's bulletproof!" Drake exclaimed.

"Yeah, I see that."

"It must be hidden behind the mirror. We have to get it open." Drake said, running over to inspect the mirror.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Sully questioned, knocking on the heavy glass.

"Well, Serrano said Magellan was to him as he was to his crew, meaning Magellan was his mirror, light, comfort, and true guide."

"I see where you're going with this." Sully said nodding. "We have the mirror-"

"And the true guide." Drake said, pointing out a small compass inscribed near the top of the mirror. "Now we just need to find the light and comfort."

Drake and Sully walked around the room a bit, searching for any more clues as to how they might open the secret door. Sully was rummaging in the desk while Drake closely inspected the walls and other furniture. He stopped when he reached the couch and paused for a moment. The mirror had been obvious enough…

"Hey, Sully, come help me move this." Drake called out, and Sully walked over.

"The couch, huh?" He questioned, joining Drake. "You really think Serrano is the kinda guy to be that literal?" Together the two men pushed the couch out of the way, revealing a compass inscribed on the wall with a small keyhole in the center.

"I guess so." Drake said with a chuckle. "Looks like we need a key."

"This was in his desk." Sully said, pulling out a key and tossing it to Drake who caught the key and stared at Sully. "What?"

"I don't know." Drake said, pausing before he put the key into the compass center. "Serrano was willing to die to defend the location of the log book, but finding it is as simple as pushing a couch and picking up a key from his desk? It's just too obvious, and way to simple."

Drake turned the key and suddenly an alarm started sounding in the study.

"I knew it!" Drake shouted.

"Yeah, good for you kid." Sully shouted over the siren, drawing out his gun. "Now see if you can bust that mirror down or get ready for hell!"

Drake stepped back and pulled out his gun again and started firing at the glass. Several cracks and fissures appeared, but it held. As Drake was firing, shouting could be heard from the other side of the study's door, which was being pushed against by Teppa soldiers.

"Nate, the door's not gonna hold much longer, how we doing with that mirror?"

"Working on it Sully!" Drake shouted, shooting more at the glass. As Drake was loading another clip, the mirror slid back into the wall and a young man jumped out of a spiral staircase wielding a pistol. He fired off two rounds, both of which narrowly missed Drake.

"Ah, what the hell is this now!" Sully shouted. The young man, eyes wild and frenzied, turned and screamed out a battle cry as he fired his gun at Sully. Drake jumped up and tackled the man, dragging him into the staircase behind the mirror. Sully quickly followed them in, and just as the study's door broke down and Teppa soldiers flooded in, Drake pulled a lever that slid the mirror back over the secret staircase.

"Suéltame, culo!" The young man shouted, struggling against Drake's grasp.

"Hey, Nate, he sounds like you as a kid." Sully said with a chuckle.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Drake said. He wrenched the pistol out of the man's hand then pushed him away, holding him at gunpoint. "Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?"

"I should ask you that!" The young man barked back furiously. "This is my house!" Drake's expression immediately softened and Sully pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Alright." Drake said with a nod, lowering the gun. "My name is Nathan Drake, and this is Victor Sullivan. We are here to protect Magellan's log book from the men out in your father's study right now."

"How do you know about that?" The man asked, his eyes widening with surprise.

"We work for a man who is very interested in keeping the log book out of the hands of the criminals outside." Sully said hurriedly. "Now if you don't mind, we should probably get going."

"How can I trust you two?" The man asked, lingering back.

"You can't." Sully said bluntly. "But we have guns, and we don't need you." With that he turned and started walking up the stairs. Drake began walking up too, leaving the young man behind.

"This must be the tower we saw from outside." Drake observed as they spiraled up. Sully was about to respond when he was cut off by a shout from below.

"Where is my father?"

Sully turned to Drake, a sad look in his eyes. Drake gave him a nod, showing that he'd rather the older man break the news to the Serrano's son.

"Listen, kid-"

"Don't call me kid. I am 19, hardly a child." The young man snapped back, scowling.

"I call everyone kid." Sully said incredulously, looking to Drake for support. Drake simply shrugged, and Sully turned back to the young Serrano. "Alright, well what should I call you?"

"My name is André Serrano. You may call me André."

"Okay, André. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this, because we don't have time. Your father is dead." Immediately, André's confidence collapsed, and his mature, powerful stance crumpled into the isolated child he had become. "He was killed by the men out there." Sully continued, pointing down the staircase. "And they killed him for this book. We are trying to keep it away from them, so if you want to help us, that's great. If you don't, please stay out of the way."

Sully turned back up the stairs, pulling Drake with him while André stood dumbfounded, then silently followed.

"Geez, Sully I knew you could be harsh but that was downright cruel." Drake whispered to his friend.

"I know, and I feel bad, but we got work to do and if we waste time with him we will just end up like his dad."

Drake nodded, not in agreement but in resolution. They needed to get the book and get out. Soon, they reached the top of the staircase and were in a small room with one window looking out onto the grounds of the villa. In the middle of the room was a desk with a locked metal box on it. Drake was about to step over and pick up the box when André silently moved ahead of him and used a key in his pocket to unlock the box then stepped back, still without saying a word or looking at either man.

"Thanks." Drake mumbled, walking to the open box. He reached in and lifted up a small, worn out book with nothing written on the faded cover. He flipped through it quickly then turned to Sully. "This is it." He said, and Sully nodded.

"Alright, now let's get out of here before-"

But Sully was unable to complete his sentence before a massive explosion shook the tower and voices started shouting up from the bottom of the stairwell.

"Here they come!" Sully barked, getting cover before pulling out his pistol. "Get ready for one hell of a fight kid!"

"No, wait!" André said, his eyes suddenly ablaze. "We can't fight them, but we can escape. The walls of the tower are covered in ledges and chains we can climb." André ran over to the window and started lowering himself out, urging Drake and Sully to follow him. Sully shrugged at Drake and then ran over, following André.

"Why do I feel like this isn't your first time doing this?" Sully questioned, but André simply replied with a mischievous smile. The three men began climbing down the tower, jumping from ledge to ledge and clinging to chains. Drake was inching along a chain strung between two points on the tower face when bullets started flying down at them. Drake swore and pulled out his pistol, firing up at the men who were leaning out the window. One of the men who leaned out dropped a grenade, which clattered down the side of the wall towards Drake.

"Oh crap, grenade!" Drake shouted, trying to move out of the way of the explosive. The grenade went off, shaking the face of the tower but leaving Drake, Sully, and André luckily unharmed. However, the explosion had been enough to loosen the chain Drake was hanging on, and one end detached from the wall.

"No, no, no! Craaaap!" Drake shouted as he began tumbling down the side of the tower clinging to the chain. After falling several feet, he jolted to a stop, his weight supported by the chains final contact point. Drake looked back up to where he was being shot at from. Another Teppa soldier was rearing up to throw a grenade, but Drake scowled and aimed his gun.

"Not this time, buddy."

Drake fired the gun, and the bullet clipped the Teppa in the shoulder. Drake saw the grenade fall from his hand and heard panicked shouting at the top of the tower, followed by an explosion that threw one Teppa out the window and undoubtedly killed the others. But this second explosion was too much for the chain Drake still clung to, and it gave out. Drake screamed as he began falling, no longer connected to the tower in any way.

"I got you!" Sully shouted, extending his arm and grasping Drake's. "I got you Nate, just hold on!"

"Oh, really? 'Cause I was thinking of letting go."

Sully pulled Drake up to his level on the ledge he hung onto and chuckled.

"Smart-ass." He said, slapping Drake on the side of the face playfully. They began moving down the wall again, this time much easier without being shot at. Soon, they reached the ground, and Drake pulled out the logbook, handing it to Sully.

"Here, take this. You and André get the car started."

"'Where are you going?" André asked.

"I have something to handle." Drake responded mysteriously as he moved over to a wall and began working his way along the side of the house.

"Nate! Nate, what the hell?!" Sully hissed, but Drake ignored him, moving along the wall to the front of the house. He moved to where the main door used to be and stood rigidly, listening. The central courtyard was just around the corner. Several voices could be heard, one of which was clearly Chandra shouting commands, a few belonging to Teppa soldiers, and one belonging to a woman who was arguing with somebody. Drake ground his teeth and clutched his pistol. He slid out from his cover and held his gun up. Nobody saw him given that Chandra, the woman, and the other Teppa guards had their back to him. Drake moved forward and focused on the woman, who had a colorful fish tattoo on her shoulder that was clearly visible under the strap of her tank top. Drake walked several more steps forward, until he was only a few feet away from Chandra and the woman, then smirked to himself before making the others aware of his presence.

"Hello Rika. I told you I'd find you."

* * *

**_Authors Notes: Surprise! Maybe, haha. It was probably a given that Rika would somehow be involved, but I hope you all still like that little development. I hope you like the entire story; the reviews have certainly been fantastic so thank you very much for that. I apologize it takes a while to upload, I've been doing quite a bit of research for this book, but have and will have a few hiccups. Nonetheless, thank you to my loyal fans and anyone who happens upon my story, please keep leaving reviews (of what you like and dislike). In the next chapter, we'll learn a little bit more about just what kind of a mess Nate is getting himself into._**


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3 **_

"Nathan Drake." Rika said, turning around slowly to face Drake. "I'm only surprised it took you this long."

"It has been a while, hasn't it." Drake commented, staying focused and keeping his smirk on his face. "And you've moved up in the world 'General Raja'."

"And I see you've gone nowhere."

"I don't know." Drake said, shifting to bring emphasis back to the gun in his hands "I'm pretty comfortable where I am."

Rika smiled coyly for a moment, then her face dropped into a deep scowl.

"You killed my brother."

"No, I didn't. I tried to save him."

"Anda sudah tahi!" Rika shouted, flailing her arms "The men who survived told me, you were trapped in that room together, and when they got in, there was no Eddy!"

"They probably told you about the freaky creatures that were killing everybody too!" Drake shouted back.

"That will be enough!" Chandra shouted, stepping forward. Drake redirected the gun to him, but Chandra laughed. "You are to kill me? Then do it. With my men who will shoot you, there would be no purpose." Drake looked at the three other Teppa soldiers who had their guns pointed at him.

"You didn't think this through very well, did you Nathan?" Rika said snidely while Drake tried to maintain his poker face.

"No, it's all part of the plan." He said in a not very convincing tone, taking a nervous step back. This had gone much better in his head.

"You always were too headstrong, and driven by your emotions. Now look at you, your thirst for revenge has put you in a position even you can't get out of." Rika said. Drake looked around nervously when he caught sight of something behind the Teppa soldiers.

"You're right Rika." Drake said, forcing himself to hide his smile. "There's no way I could get out of this alone. But I'm not alone, now am I?"

A gunshot cut through the night, and one of the Teppa soldiers fell to the ground. Chandra, Rika, and the other two Teppa turned in shock to see Sully standing next to one of the doorways on the other side of the courtyard with his pistol in hand. One of the Teppa raised his rifle, but another gunshot cut him down. Sully ducked behind cover as the third Teppa started firing while Rika shouted orders into her walkie-talkie for more soldiers to come to the courtyard, and then quickly fled.

Drake attempted to pursue Rika, but Chandra cut him off. He grabbed Drake's wrist and twisted it, causing the gun to clatter to the floor. Chandra swung at Drake, who dodged the attack and countered with a quick uppercut. Chandra stumbled back, but quickly recovered and launched himself at Drake. Drake ducked it, and was about to follow up when Sully shot the other Teppa soldier, who spun around and fired stray bullets as he fell to the floor.

Drake and Chandra were both startled, but when Chandra ducked he left his back turned to Drake. Taking the opportunity, Drake jumped onto Chandra's back and wrapped his arm tightly around the man's neck. But the Teppa commander was stronger than he looked. With a quick move, Drake was flipped through the air and landed on his back in front of Chandra, who raised his booted foot and brought it down. Drake rolled out of the way just as the boot came crashing down where his face had been. Drake jumped up and tackled Chandra, but the man was now on guard and was able to deflect most of Drake's attacks. Chandra spun sharply with his elbow bent out, connecting with Drake's head and knocking him to all fours. Chandra dropped down and rammed his knee into Drake's ribs a few times, but then Drake pushed himself up, wrapping his hands around Chandra's neck. He lifted Chandra off of him and pushed him back, quickly picking up his gun. However, Chandra was too quick, and swatted the gun away again. Chandra lunged at Drake, but the move was quickly countered and Drake was able to knock Chandra off balance and tackle him. The two men collapsed and rolled along the floor, out of the courtyard, and into the grounds of the villa. Chandra raised himself up, standing several feet away from Drake, and pulled a knife out from his waistline.

"Looks like this is to be the end, Drake." Chandra said, flipping the knife through his fingers as a display of dexterity. Before Chandra could move however, he was covered in the bright headlights of a fast approaching vehicle. Chandra shielded his eyes and was too shocked to move before the car hit him, launching him through the air and into a crumpled. It was the car Sully had driven over, and in the driver's seat was André.

"Get in!" André shouted, and Drake gladly obliged. He turned to see Sully running through the courtyard as bullets flew by, blindly shooting over his shoulder. Drake opened the door and urged Sully, who dove safely into the back seat of the car. André immediately sped off, headed in the direction of the exit.

"I have half a mind to beat you down right now!" Sully said angrily to Drake while gasping for breath "So if I were you, I'd stay quiet until I calm down a bit."

Drake nodded and remained silent as they drove out of the villa's grounds and back towards Madrid.

* * *

"C'mon Sully, you can't give me the silence treatment forever!" Drake exclaimed as a steely-faced Sully drove along Autovía 6 and into Portugal. Just a few hours ago, they had dropped André off at his uncle's house in Badajoz and then continued South-East to the border. Their destination was Arraiolos, a small city in central Portugal and home of their employer, Mr. Correia. For the nearly five hour long trip, Sully had been almost entirely silent, and it was beginning to bother Drake.

"Seriously, Sully, I don't see what the big deal is!" He exclaimed, vying for the older man's attention. Finally, Sully cracked.

"You don't see what the big deal is?!" He roared, his face turning slightly red. "Nate, you lied to me about why you took that job, failed to mention your personal interests, and put everybody's life on the line! You know we have more important things going on, and you opted to take time away from that and start picking your own fights while just dragging me along. So do you see why it's a big deal, and why I'm so pissed off!"

Sully fumed for a few more minutes, and Drake stayed quiet. After a little while, he decided it was opportune timing for an apology. He vocalized this, but Sully only shushed him.

"You're not sorry. You're too headstrong to be sorry, and what you need is something to kick your ass into shape and knock some sense into you."

Once again the car fell into silence, so Drake decided he'd flip through Magellan's journal again. His Portuguese was not top notch, and he had difficulty with most of it, but he figured Correia would do a much better job of translating it. Even if Drake could translate the journal, he was far too distracted. Having Sully mad at him tore him apart. Drake knew the London job was big, and knew that he probably should have told Sully about Rika. Despite Sully's involvement, his _was_ a personal matter for him. Maybe his pride was getting in the way, but he needed resolution for the events that had occurred between him and the Raja family. Correia knew about this, and that is why he sought Drake out to do the job. How Correia knew, and how he managed to track the Teppa so well was beyond Drake. Whoever his resource was, the guy was good. And clearly very involved in the criminal underworld. These thoughts flickered through Drakes head as he slowly began to drift to sleep.

It felt like it had only been a second when Drake was jolted awake by a knock on the window. Bright sunlight was streaming into the car, hurting Drakes eyes. He turned and looked out the window to see Sully standing there, holding coffee and pastries. Drake stepped out into the warm day and blinked away his sleep, graciously taking the breakfast. Drake stretched, yawned, and looked at his watch. It was about 8 in the morning. He'd been asleep for nearly four hours.

"Thanks for letting me sleep." Drake mumbled, glancing around. One look at the white painted houses clustered close together and the familiar castle on the hill told him they were in Arraiolos.

"So where does this Correia live?" Despite his friendly morning gesture, Sully still seemed verbally upset and curt.

"We can walk there from here if you're up to it." Drake offered, and Sully simply nodded. Together, the two men strolled through the town until they reached a small and somewhat shabby home, nearly identical to all the others. Drake flipped open his notebook to check the address and nodded.

"This is it." He said, walking over and knocking while Sully stayed close behind him.

The door opened and a large man with a shaved head stood in the frame. He nodded to Drake and gestured for him to come in. They entered into the small house that looked drab and lacked furniture.

"The owner of this shack is supposed to deliver us that big paycheck?" Sully asked, and Drake nodded.

"Yeah, he had a much bigger house, and actual furniture. But he sold it all to raise money for getting this log book." Drake explained. Sully was about to say something, but they had walked into the kitchen dining room where a middle aged man with flowing brown hair streaked with gray and suntanned skin sat on a small wooden chair eating a meager breakfast off a paper plate at a small wooden table. He smiled warmly and stood up. His face looked complacent, but his rigid and proud posture revealed the wounds his ego had recently suffered.

"Mr. Drake, so wonderful to see you again!" Franco Correia exclaimed, shaking Drake's hand then turning to Sully. "Mr. Sullivan, right? Mr. Drake has said a lot about you, it's an honor and pleasure to meet you." Correia said, being careful to speak slow enough that his accent didn't convolute his words. Sully reciprocated the handshake and nodded with a smile.

"And Mr. Drake," Correia continued "I'm sure you remember Mr. Cutter." He gestured to the large man, who nodded, remaining straight-faced.

"Oh yeah, he's the guy who tried to cop a feel last time I was here." Drake said with a smile. The man raised his eyebrows and smiled back.

"Yeah, I remember you." He responded with a heavy British accent. "I also remember I wasn't very impressed."

"Ha-ha, great. He's got a sense of humor." Drake said sarcastically.

"Behave yourselves!" Correia said, still smiling. If one word could be used to describe Correia, it would be fatherly. "Mr. Sullivan, let me formerly introduce you to Charlie Cutter, my close friend and employee." Sully reached out and shook Cutter's hand.

"Don't be offended by the kid." Sully said. "He just doesn't like being outwitted."

"I wasn't outwitted!" Drake shot defensively, but he was ignored.

"I'm sorry about the mess." Correia said, clearing the table. "You have caught me in the middle of breakfast! I wish you had called before. Would either of you like something to drink?"

"No thank you." Drake said. "And it was a bit late for us to call when we finished the job."

"Please, sit." Correia said, sitting himself in his own chair. Drake and Sully sat, while Cutter moved into a different room. "So, I take it you retrieved the log book?" Correia asked, and Drake nodded. "May I?"

Drake pulled out Magellan's journal and handed it over to Correia, who took it gingerly in his hands and started inspecting it very carefully.

"Where are you gentleman staying for the evening?" Correia asked absently, unable to take his eyes off the journal.

"This evening?" Sully asked, incredulously. "Mr. Correia, we need to be in London by this afternoon."

"Oh right. Mr. Drake mentioned that." Correia said, looking up from the book with a confused look in his eyes, as if he had just woken from a dream. "That is regrettable, as I was actually hoping you both could help me with something."

"I told you Mr. Correia, I could only do this job, and then I'm out." Drake confirmed, getting a sad but knowing nod from Correia.

"As it is, I think you can afford to stay." Sully said, drawing from Drake the most incredulous look he had ever been given.

"Sully-"

"May I borrow him for a moment?" Sully asked to Correia while placing his hand on Drake's shoulder. Correia nodded and Sully led Drake to a different room.

"Sully what the hell are you-"

"You're staying." Sully said with such finality it cause Drake to shut his mouth instantly. "You aren't ready for what's in London. I need you focused 100%. Hell, I need you focused 200%, and right now you're so wrapped up in this goddamn Raja business, you're more useful to me here. You almost got us killed in Madrid, and in London we will be dealing with real heavy hitters. You know that better than anyone. I have a lot on the line here and am committed to this job, while you still have your head up your ass about some little girl who flicked your ego. So handle this, and shape up."

"You need me in London!" Drake defended, but Sully shook his head.

"Not yet. Not for a few more months. I'm still figuring things out; I wanted you there for convenience. But like I said, with the mood you're in, it's only more of a liability for you to be there. So, I'm going. I'll call you if anything changes, but until then handle this business here. Got it?"

Drake was about to argue, but knew it wasn't worth it. Sully was even more headstrong than he was. So Drake just nodded sadly. Sully patted him on the shoulder, thanked him, then walked out the front door into the sunlit street. Drake saw the older man pull out a cigar and perch it between his teeth just before the door closed and Sully was gone. Drake stood in stunned silence for a moment until Cutter walked into the room and stood beside him.

"Everything okay mate?"

"Yeah… yeah." Drake said, coming back to life. "He just has some other obligations elsewhere, that's all."

"And you?"

"I'm staying." Drake said, turning with Cutter and walking back into the room where Correia sat, now with a laptop in front of him.

"So glad to hear you will be joining us, Mr. Drake." Correia said with a warm smile. "Although I am sorry to hear Mr. Sullivan had to leave."

"It's fine. So what is it you need?"

"In one moment, I can show you." Correia said, typing away at his laptop. He cleared his throat and spoke into the computer. "Doctor? Mr. Drake is here."

"_Perfect!" _a voice crooned out from the computer. Correia turned the laptop around and Drake saw the screen was filled with the live video feed of a thin man with short white hair, startling blue eyes, and a gaunt face. The man was donning a lab coat that looked several years unwashed, and he himself had the appearance of being long past his better days.

"Mr. Drake, allow me to introduce you to my associate, Dr. Anton Rezikov. He has been my accomplice and informer for quite some time now concerning the Ferdinand Magellan logbook."

"It is wonderful to finally meet you, Nathan!" Rezikov croaked, his voice harsh and raspy.

"Likewise." Drake said, unsure how to treat the familiar greeting.

"I have been telling Anton many stories about your accomplishments and of your recent work for me. He is thrilled to hear that it was a success, and it is from him that my new offer stems. But I shall allow him to explain." Correia said, pushing the laptop forward so that Rezikov was the center of attention.

"So, Nathan, I shall not dwell on formalities, if you do not mind, and will get straight to the business. As Franco has told you, I have been his associate and informer when it comes to obtaining Magellan's logbook. Together, we are compiling data about Magellan's journey with strictly original documents. Franco is in possession of some very wonderful maps and charts, while I happen to possess some shipping logs and diaries of crew members who survived, including that of Juan Sebastián Elcano, the man who took over for Magellan and completed the circumnavigation."

"We have been collaborating with the information we have, but what we truly needed was not only the logbook, but all of the documents together!" Correia cut in, an excited look in his eyes.

"Yes, my friend here is much more optimistic than I." Rezikov said sadly. "You see, about a year ago, when this research Franco and I were conducting still was in gestation, some thugs came to me in Novodvinsk and demanded I hand over all of the documents. I escaped them and fled to a cousin's house, where I believed I was safe for at least the time being. But I was wrong, these were no ordinary thugs, they were an army. I believe you have had an encounter with them recently, Nathan?"

"The Teppa." Drake whispered with realization. "In Russia?"

"Yes, they were here in Russia. And they found me at my cousin's house, killed him, and burned the house to the ground. They are a vicious people. So I moved up the Dvina River, shifting from town to town and trusting nobody, until I reached the large city of Arkhangelsk. I got lost in the size of the city, but was still wary. I found for myself an empty warehouse that had been and was to remain unoccupied for several years. So I set up here and," Rezikov swept his arms to display the rusting and decrepit walls of the warehouse "Home sweet home."

"The point is," Rezikov continued "I have remained in this warehouse, conducting my research on the Magellan documents I have, while keeping tabs on the Teppa. With this recent acquisition of the Magellan logbook, and with our goal is so close to reality, I have decided to give my documents to Franco for him to complete the research. His hands are capable ones, and he is the only man I trust."

"So what do I need to do?" Drake asked, dreading the answer.

"I have not left this warehouse since I arrived, and I cannot leave. The Teppa can be seen every day patrolling the streets. They don't know where I am, but they know enough to stay in this part of the city. I live every day of my life in fear."

"So you need us to come pick up the documents." Drake completed, nodding his head in confirmation of his own assumptions.

"Exactly."

"Why can't Charlie go?" Drake asked, gesturing towards Cutter.

"I am going." Cutter said, stepping forward. "But you should know I can't do this on my own. You have experience with these bastards. Hell, you just beat them at their own game."

"Not to mention you will be able to verify the authenticity of the documents." Correia interjected. "Just to be sure." He added while looking at Rezikov apologetically, who nodded with understanding.

"So you want me to fly over to Arkhangelsk, which is apparently crawling with Teppa soldiers, verify the documents, gather them, and bring them back?" Drake summarized, earning an encouraging nod from all other parties.

"Should be a piece of cake, right?" Cutter said, smiling. Drake looked at Cutter, then to Correia, and finally to Rezikov.

"Dr. Rezikov, could I have a moment with Mr. Correia and Mr. Cutter?"

"Of course, Nathan. It's a big job, I know, so take your time thinking about it." Rezikov pressed a button and the screen went blank. Immediately, Correia launched into a plea.

"Mr. Drake, this is a momentous occasion for me; years of research have led to this opportunity. It is a lot to ask of you, and your pay will increase respectively. Of course all fees will be covered by myself. The acquisition of these documents means everything, and the risk of them falling into the hands of the Teppa is simply too high! I trust you and Mr. Cutter, which is why I am turning to you for help." Correia stopped, breathless from the rapidity of his appeal.

Drake was silent for a moment before he said anything in response.

"I'll do it." Correia released a sigh of relief, but Drake quickly cut off the man's thanks. "On one condition. You tell me what it is you are looking for."

Correia glanced at Cutter, who gave a nod. This surprised Drake. Cutter had seemed unfriendly to say the least, but it seemed he was actually in favor of Drake.

"Very well." Correia said, sitting down and gesturing for Drake to do the same. Drake took one of the other chairs, and Cutter sat next to him. "I suppose to understand my quest, you need to know at least a small amount about Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães, as we call him here in Portugal. Being a historian of sorts, I'm sure you know the basics of his journey: he leaves Spain in August of 1519, reaches the equator in February of 1521 after going around South America, March 6th he reaches Guam, and on March 17th becomes the first Portuguese man to set foot in the Philippines. On the 28th, Magellan landed on the island of Mazaua and met with two kings, whom he converted to Christianity and was peaceful with. He even managed to celebrate Easter mass with these kings and their people, the first Easter celebration of the now vastly Christian Philippines. This is where I am interested. I have here Antonio Pigafetta's excerpt about this island." Correia walked out of the room and came back with a bundle of papers. He opened them up and held one up to read it.

"_In this island there is a quantity of dogs, cats, pigs, fowls, and goats, rice, cocos, figs, oranges, lemons, millet, wax, and gold. This island is in nine degrees and two thirds north, and one hundred and sixty two longitude from the line demarcation: it is twenty-five leagues distant from the other island where we found the two fountains of water. This island is named Mazzava._" Correia set down the document and looked at Drake. "Massava, Massawa, Mazaua; the island goes by many names. Nonetheless, the name it used to go by is no longer the name it uses. In fact, nobody is positive where this island is. Mazaua is one of the greatest conundrums of the Magellan expedition. It was such a momentous occasion, and so great a historic event, I have tried endlessly to find the answer to its location. But with alterations made to documents and inferences people have made, it is difficult to ascertain the truth. That is why I seek only original documents." Correia dug through the papers once more and handed Drake a topographical map of the Philippine islands. "Most people believe that Mazaua is the modern island of Limasawa. Many geographers and historians immediately refute anybody who disagrees with this. But look carefully at the island here. Do you see anything wrong?" Correia said, pointing out Limasawa on the map.

"They are the wrong coordinates." Drake observed.

"Precisely. Mazaua is described as being at 9⁰ 40' North, 162⁰ away from the Line of Demarcation. That is not where Limasawa is. So we must think, we know he was at the island of Homonhon and the traveled West and Southwest, most likely past the island of Leyte and Dinagat through the Surigao Strait. Investigation of Philippine Coast Pilot reports from the early 20th century show that Limasawa has no natural port that Magellan would have been able to use. And if the Line of Tordesillas was the Line of Demarcation, as many Portuguese and Spanish explorers knew it, which puts Mazaua in a much different location. I don't know where Mazaua is, but I know it is not Limasawa."

"You think Dr. Rezikov's documents will help you find Mazaua?"

"I am positive."

Drake sat in silence, deep in thought. It would be a difficult job, but the overall goal was an intriguing one. Not to mention Rika was still out there, and for whatever reason she wanted these documents just as bad as Correia and Rezikov. So wherever these documents went, she would go. Drake didn't necessarily want to kill her, but there was no way he could let her win.

"Alright, I'm in." Drake said, reaching out and shaking Correia's hand. The man practically jumped up and down with excitement.

"Oh this is wonderful! I will get in contact right now with Anton, tell him what I've enlightened you of, and then tell him the fantastic news! Of course, you can stay here for tonight while we make the plans. Charlie can show you where your room is." Correia spoke in one breath and jumped back onto his laptop. Cutter started walking down a hallway, ushering for Drake to follow him.

"This will be a nice little vacation for us, huh? I heard Arkhangelsk is beautiful this time of year. Very romantic." Drake said, but Cutter only looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Now, what happened to that charming sense of humor?" Drake murmured.

"I just think we are playing on different teams, mate."

"On different- what? Oh, wait, I get it. Haha very funny."

"Yeah, well, brevity is the soul of wit." Cutter said, opening a small door that led into a shabby room with an old bed on an old bedframe. Drake walked in and started unpacking his bags while Cutter left back out to the main room. Drake pulled out a jacket and lifted from under it his guns and gun holster. He really hoped he wasn't making a stupid mistake here.

Drake sighed. He felt very uncharacteristic the past few days, stuck in a sulky mood he couldn't seem to drop. Maybe Sully was right, maybe he was safer and better off here. Drake nodded his head resolutely. He was letting his emotions get in the way. It would have been too risky to try and pull off the London job while his thoughts and emotions were so convoluted. He was safer here.

Exactly one month later, Drake would find himself in one of the most life-threatening situations he had encountered yet.

* * *

_**Author's Notes: Wow, three months later, I resurface from my little cave with this thing. It has been a very busy few months, with promise of a very busy few months to come. But, I have still not forgotten about Nathan Drake and those of you who are following my story! This chapter is awfully long, but I certainly hope you enjoyed it. A lot of background info and plot set-up, so maybe not the most interesting. Leave some reviews, let me know how you like where the story is going. I am struggling a bit more to nail Cutter's character compared to Drake and Sully, so especially let me know how you feel about that. Anyways, I promise I won't take so long with the next chapter as long as you promise not to give up on me here. Thank you again for you reading and reviews. Until next time!**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

Drake spent the rest of the day relaxing in Arraiolos while Correia finalized the plans for Drake and Cutter's trip to Russia. Drake contemplated getting in touch with Sully, but decided against it. He instead began to focus more on his reasons for working with Correia. Certainly the aspect of discovering something like Mazaua was enticing, even though it wasn't really a "treasure". But undoubtedly, Drake's main focus was on Rika and Chandra. At first it had been personal vengeance for him, but after what he witnessed at the Villa de Serrano, now it was because he believed that the two very much deserved to be beaten. If their objective was, for whatever reason, to find Mazaua, it was Drake's duty to make sure they failed.

And so the day dragged on, Drake wandering through the streets, sipping on beers as he reflected on his purpose. The sun was setting when he finally started heading back to Correia's house. As Drake walked down the street, he heard a rustling behind him. He turned sharply, just in time to glimpse a dark figure duck behind a car. Drake stared for a moment, trying to catch sight of the mysterious figure again. He slowly began walking towards the car, his fists clenched. Why the hell didn't he keep his guns on him…

Drake edged to the car, knees bent and fists up as he maintained a fighting pose. He held his breath as he quickly turned around the car to face his stalker. But nobody was there behind the car. Drake stood straight, confused, looking up and down the street. Not a soul was to be seen. Drake swallowed his nervousness as he continued down the street to Correia's house and knocked on the door. Cutter answered with a big smile on his face, but the grin dropped into a frown as if pulled by an invisible hand as soon as Cutter laid his eyes on Drake's nervous expression.

"What's wrong, mate?" Cutter asked, sensing the danger that put Drake on edge.

"I thought I saw something." Drake said, pushing his way through the doorway.

"A something or someone?" Cutter asked, leaning his head out the doorway and scoping out the street. "Were you followed by Teppa?"

"No, I don't think so."

"That's not very confident."

"I know…" Drake mumbled, moving to his room. He pulled out his gun vest and strapped it on.

"Alright buddy, now you're making me nervous." Cutter said, smiling half-heartedly. "Is this what the whole trip is going to be like?"

"No," Drake said apologetically "I've just been a bit on edge lately. The Teppa are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. And they are definitely playing for keeps."

"Well so are we, mate." Cutter responded, smiling and patting Drake on the shoulder before walking out and closing the door. Drake stood in silence and stared out his window. He was sure he had seen someone moving amongst the cars. Or was it a something? Now even he was beginning to doubt his resolution. What if it had been some stray dog? That would make him feel like a fool.

Drake sighed but decided to keep the vest on. So as not to continue making Cutter and Correia uncomfortable, Drake pulled a jacket on before walking into the dining room. Although the daytime was warm in Arraiolos, the nights were cold with no cloud cover. Since Correia's house had no heater, it was fairly reasonable to be wearing the jacket.

"Mr. Drake, I hope you are getting ready for your little expedition!" Correia greeted cordially when Drake entered the room. "Anton and I have decided the best time to leave may very well be tomorrow morning, so as to catch a plane by mid-morning, and arrive in Arkhangelsk by mid-afternoon or early evening. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me." Drake said with a warm smile.

"Excellent!" Correia said, giddy with excitement. "Then tonight let me treat you and Mr. Cutter out to dinner as preliminary thanks for your work."

Drake gladly accepted the dinner, and enjoyed the rest of his evening. He was feeling more comfortable with Correia as an employer and Cutter as a partner. It was nice, especially since he had plenty of experience with bad employers and backstabbing from previous adventures. However, the sensation that he was being followed persisted, and that in and of itself was enough to worry Drake, and cause him to remain on edge. Certainly there were a few times where a glance over his shoulder would reveal a shadowy figure or rustling foliage. Correia didn't seem to notice Drake's unease, but Cutter did, and the larger man began to focus more on possible followers.

"-and really that is why I choose to avoid beef at meals, although it does amuse me when I am confused for being of the Hindu faith." Correia chuckled, finishing up a story Drake hadn't even been pretending to listen to. "Well that was a wonderful evening!" Correia exclaimed as they reached his home.

"Yeah, thank you very much Franco." Cutter said, patting his friend on the back.

"Well you two best be off to bed, you do have an early morning." Correia said cheerfully. "Goodnight Mr. Cutter. Goodnight Mr. Drake. Oh, and Mr. Drake? Thank you again, for all of your help."

"You're welcome." Drake said with a nod. That was one thing he liked about Correia; the man didn't treat this like a business deal or a job that Drake was being paid to do, even though it was. He treated it like a favor Drake was doing for him.

Drake was headed down the hall when he was grabbed and spun around by Cutter.

"You were right." He hissed at Drake, looking over his shoulder to make sure Correia was out of ear range.

"Wha-"

"We were being followed. I saw him. But it was only one, the same person again and again."

"Do you think it was Teppa?" Drake asked, his hand drifting towards his gun.

"No, definitely not." Cutter said, backing away from Drake. "A kid punk or something. They stopped tailing us back at the restaurant. At worst they were looking to mug us."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Surprisingly enough, mate, I happen to be very good at what I am paid to do."

Drake conceded and lowered his hand from his guns.

"So what should we do?"

"Nothing." Cutter responded, giving Drake a reassuring shoulder pat. "You need to loosen up. Whoever was following you, they quit, and they sure as all hell ain't Teppa. So you have nothing to worry about. Get some sleep, it'll be a busy day."

Drake nodded and went to his room. Cutter was right, there was nothing to worry about. The Teppa weren't exactly a "wait-in-the-shadows" type of group. If they were stalking him, they would have killed him already. Drake's foul mood had persisted during the remainder of his stay in Arraiolos, but no more. This was a simple job, and if Rika showed up again, he would deal with her for good.

Flopping onto his bed, Drake smiled contentedly, one of the first true smiles that had passed over his face since the night at the Villa de Serrano. And in that moment, as he drifted off to sleep, nothing could bother Nathan Drake.

* * *

As Correia had promised, the next morning was an early one. Drake struggled through the drive to the airport, the lines at check-in, and the haphazard boarding half-asleep. An airplane seat never looked so inviting as when he found his aisle.

"Are there any files you'd like to review before we get to Arkhangelsk?" Cutter asked, plopping down in the seat next to Drake.

"The files on the back of my eyelids sound rather nice." Drake mumbled, and Cutter looked at him condescendingly. "What? C'mon Charlie, it's an easy job if we play the stealth game. We avoid the Teppa, get the papers, and get out. Easy stuff."

"Is this generally how your plans go?" Cutter asked sarcastically.

"Mhmm." Drake grunted as he reclined his seat.

"No offense mate, but I really can't see myself working with you after this job."

"No offense taken." Drake fell silent for a moment, then sat up. "Actually, I do have a question." He said, earning a skeptical look from Cutter. "Anton Rezikov. What's his story?"

Cutter looked at Drake for a moment as if contemplating how serious the inquiry was. When satisfied that Drake's interest was legitimate, Cutter pulled out his journal and flipped it open.

"I wrote a bio on Rezikov when I first met him, as I do with all my associates." Cutter explained.

"Did you write one about me?" Drake asked, earning another glare from Cutter.

"Yeah but you wouldn't want to read it. Might hurt your feelings. Anyways," he continued, ignoring Drake's eye-roll. "Dr. Anton Rezikov, born in Novodvinsk, a city in the Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia. He is a biochemical scientist with a particular amount of work in botany. He was actually very brilliant and as a young man he was hired by the Soviets to work on a project in the Philippines. Not much is known about the project, it was a complete flop, after which Rezikov returned to Russia and waited out the Cold War. He worked briefly as a researcher but moved to the Philippines in the late 80's, early 90's to continue private research. He retired and since then returned to his hometown."

"What does he have to do with Magellan and Mazaua?" Drake asked once Cutter had finished recounting what he knew of Rezikov.

"Well, it looks like while he was doing his private research in the Philippines he was turned on to the idea of Mazaua. Apparently his research partner at the time, a Dr. Sergei Turovic, was enthralled with the idea of Mazaua and the possibility of Magellan having left some secret treasure there."

"A treasure?" Drake asked, perking up. He quickly checked himself, taking note that his zealous reaction to the mention of treasure was scarily reminiscent of Sully.

"Don't get your hopes up. Turovic was a nut-job, and more than once put Rezikov in a dangerous position. It was after ditching him that Rezikov connected with Franco, and they have been working together ever since."

"So we can trust Rezikov?"

"I'd say so."

Drake nodded, mulling over this new information. He had never heard about the Mazaua controversy, but apparently it was a pretty big deal. And for the next few days it looked like it would be his entire life.

"What ever happened to Turovic?" Drake asked, turning once more to Cutter, who shrugged in response.

"No idea. Not even Rezikov knows. He left him behind in the Philippines and hasn't seen or heard from him since. Dropped off the map entirely. We looked him up and he was real, everything in Rezikov's story checks off. But Turovic just… disappears."

"Huh." Was all Drake could say in response to that. He had no idea what to make of this new information. Interpersonal turmoil was expected with most treasure hunters, especially irrational ones like Turovic.

Drake looked out the window and down at what was probably the Spanish countryside. He couldn't help but feel that if all those spanning miles of fields and cities below him were the adventure he had just gotten himself involved in, he was just a pebble. Before he could further the metaphor, Drake drifted into a dreamless sleep that seemed to last only minutes before he was jolted awake by the planes descent.

The climate outside had changed from Mediterranean mid-morning to far north afternoon. The sun glimmered dully through the gray clouds, unable to fully warm the cold ground.

"Here we are." Cutter, said, standing up and pulling out his and Drake's bags from the overhead compartment. Drake always got antsy when landing in new countries while on a job. He felt like there was so much to do, and being stuck in customs took up too much time and left him too in the open.

Despite this vulnerability, the airport was vastly uneventful. Drake and Cutter got a rental car easily enough, and headed off to Arkhangelsk.

They had landed at Talagi Airport, a good 13 kilometers from the city center, but only about 10 kilometers from the warehouse Rezikov had holed himself up in. Drake was comforted by the fact that they did not have to pass through the bustling city, deciding that the slightly more vacant area around the warehouse would provide better for their tactical avoidance of any Teppa who might be in the immediate area.

Fifteen minutes later, Drake and Cutter were standing outside of the rusted and dilapidated gate of an equally rusty and dilapidated warehouse with boarded up windows and abandoned trucks discard in the lot. The gate itself was plastered with no trespassing signs, and was still tightly locked down.

"I thought Rezikov was supposed to open up the gate for us?" Cutter asked, nervously looking over his shoulder. They had yet to encounter any Teppa, but they didn't want to take any chances. They had to hurry up.

"Maybe he got too scared to come out or something." Drake proposed, a little skeptical of the hermitic scientist.

"Maybe. How do we get in?"

Drake looked around at the perimeter fence and shrugged.

"Oh, you know. The usual."

The main gate was still topped with barbed wire, but most of the rest of the fence had a wall base that allowed Drake to get a boost up to what would have been the roof of the security guard's station. Balancing on the rusted tin roof, Drake jumped down to the other side of the fence, and gestured for Cutter to follow him. Cutter repeated Drake's movements, but when he reached the tin roof, it collapsed under his weight, and with a loud clatter he fell through.

"Charlie! Shhh!"

"Oh yeah, sure, don't worry about me…" Cutter mumbled. "It's not even like there are people around to hear us."

The two men walked over and tried the door to the warehouse.

"Locked, from the inside of course."

Cutter knocked on the door, and they waited patiently. After a few minutes of no response, Drake stepped back to examine the rest of the warehouse.

"We can make our way up the side of the building." He observed. "See, right there!" He exclaimed pointing out a window where one of the boards had come undone. Drake looked at Cutter expectantly, who responded with an eyebrow-raised look of disbelief.

"Oh, what? Up there? Three stories up? Did you see how that tin roof folded under me like paper? Yeah, no thanks, you can do the climbing monkey boy. And you can open the door for me once you're inside, like a real gentleman."

Drake scowled but did not respond, turning instead to the challenge at hand.

Moving as quickly as he could while remaining silent, Drake started climbing a fire escape which would provide him with a good start. But the corroded iron had fallen apart, only getting him a little less than a story up. Drake jumped and clung to a windowsill, scooting his way along closer to a drain pipe that ran up the side of the building. Drake lunged and barely grabbed the pipe. Stabilizing himself, he slowly began to shimmy up the building. He had nearly reached the third story when the pipe groaned and started to bend.

"Don't break, don't break, don't break…" Drake mumbled, extending his hand towards the closest windowsill. With a loud snap, the restraint holding the pipe in place broke off, and the pipe began to bend.

"No, damn it I was so close!" Drake cried out as the pipe bent away from the windowsill. Suddenly, the entire pipe snapped off, throwing Drake backwards.

"Wooooooooahhhhh shit!" Drake shouted, shooting out his hands and grasping the bottom rung of a fragment of the fire escape ladder. The ladder was unable to support Drake's weight however, and snapped as well, swinging out to suspend Drake over open air.

"See! See, that is exactly what I am talking about! In this situation, I would be so screwed!" Cutter shouted up from below.

"Thanks for that." Drake grunted as he strained out to reach for the other portion of the latter, which was just out of reach.

"Here, I got you." Cutter called up. Drake heard a muffled gunshot and the ladder above him slid down several feet. Now within arm's reach, Drake barely grasped onto the ladder and pulled himself up before the piece he had been hanging from completely gave out and dropped.

Drake climbed up onto the landing and looked down at Cutter.

"A gun?! Are you serious?!"

"What? Didn't you bring one?"

"Yeah, but I'm not shooting it at ladders!" Drake hissed.

"Well it is silenced, and it did help you. I could have let you drop. Not that it would have mattered much. Two story drop? That's, what, a twisted ankle?"

Drake groaned in exasperation and turned away.

"I hope one day _you_ fall of a building and bust _your_ leg up, see how much it matters then."

Still grumbling, Drake swung down onto the windowsill of the window nearest him and made his way over to the window with the gap in the boards. Squeezing through, he found himself on a platform in the warehouse that was fortunately still intact, and provided a direct stairway down to the ground floor.

"Dr. Rezikov! It's Nathan Drake! You didn't open the gate or door; we had to come in another way." Drake paused and thought to himself. "Okay, we probably should have called your cell phone before sneaking in." There was a silent pause. "Dr. Rezikov?"

Drake moved quickly down the stairs and broke down the front door of the warehouse.

"Thank you my-" Cutter started, but he was cut off by Drake.

"Rezikov isn't here."

"What do you mean?"

"He isn't here!" Drake shouted, both anger and frustration in his voice.

The warehouse was not empty; it was in fact filled with tables, broken glass, boxes, and other various objects. However, the place had clearly been ransacked, and there was nobody inside.

"Shit. What do you think this is, Teppa?" Cutter asked, pulling out his gun and moving through the warehouse.

"No, not if the gate was closed and the front door barred. This wasn't a random break in, this was a kidnapping."

"Christ." Cutter pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed. He held the phone to his ear for a moment then swore. "Rezikov isn't answering. I'm going to try Franco, we have to tell him something went wrong."

Drake bent down and inspected some of the mess. The place had been picked clean so that not even a hint as to who was responsible or what Rezikov had been working on was present.

"Correia didn't answer. What do you think?" Cutter asked, turning to Drake.

Drake shook his head, unsure of how to proceed.

"Maybe we should stay here and keep trying to get in touch with Correia." He suggested. Cutter was about to retort when the sound of shouting voices were heard in the lot outside the warehouse. There was a loud bashing sound as the front gate was torn down.

"Oh goddamn it." Drake said through ground teeth, pulling out his own gun. Two smoke grenades were tossed into the warehouse, filling the area with smoke. Drake was preparing to open fire when he heard the shouting through the doorway in Russian.

"My v politsiyu! Polozhite vashe oruzhiye vniz!"

Drake didn't know much Russian, but he recognized enough words to throw his gun down and put his hands in the air and urge Cutter to do the same.

These were not Teppa soldiers. These were Russian Police.

* * *

_**Author's Notes: Well, there we go, Chapter 4! Getting back into the swing of things, although with midterm's impending, Chapter 5 may take a little while. Anyways, how did you all like this chapter? I know it has been pretty dialogue heavy as of late, I am trying to break it up with some action, but there is definitely a different tone than the last story i wrote. i hope you are all still enjoying this one. Let me know what you like, what you dislike, leave reviews please! By the way, I know at least one person was unsure, so let ,me clarify that this takes place between Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. Thank you very much for reading. Until next time!**_


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